2022 – Anniversary Lecture

Geraldine McCaughrean – ‘100 years of Gratitude'
Inside her Head premier – a play by Nick Warburton

In 2020 it would have been 100 years since the birth of Philippa Pearce, and, sadly, our celebrations had to be cancelled owing to the Covid pandemic.

The planned centenary celebration was instead held in 2022, with a lecture by author Geraldine McCaughrean, plus the premier of a short play inspired by Philippa Pearce’s short story, Inside Her Head, from the award-winning playwright and friend of the author, Nick Warburton. 

Geraldine McCaughrean is the author of more than 170 books for all ages from toddlers to adults, and published in over 50 countries. Perhaps best known for her official sequel, Peter Pan in Scarlet, she has won numerous awards, including three Whitbread/Costa Children’s Book Awards and the Carnegie Medal in 1989 and 2018. 
 
Nick Warburton is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter who has won the BBC/Radio Times Drama Award, the Sandford St Martin Award and the Tinniswood Award. His work for radio includes A Play for the Heart, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and adaptations of The Canterbury Tales and The Mysteries for the cast of The Archers.

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The power of story was also beautifully demonstrated by a twenty-minute play. Inside Her Head, by the award-winning playwright and personal friend of Philippa Pearce, Nick Warburton, combined a Pearce short story by the same title with references to her other stories and experiences. The drama explored the boundaries between memory, imagination and invention, and involved the audience in a sense of collaboration as a story was constructed in front of them.
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